Chapter Eight: Scissors

Zhao Mu continued on the road with the woman. Although the recent killing seemed to have drawn them closer, she still did not walk side by side with him, merely keeping a much shorter distance behind him.

Previously, she would trail tens of steps behind Zhao Mu, but now she stayed just six or seven steps behind. Their communication was limited to the woman's simple "thank you" that day; beyond that, there was no other conversation.

Though she followed him, it was evident that the woman remained deeply wary, both of Zhao Mu and the world around her.

Zhao Mu was certain that even if he hadn’t intervened that day, she might have escaped on her own. Reflecting carefully afterward, he recalled how, when cornered against the large tree, her expression was calm rather than panicked. One hand was always tucked inside her clothing, seemingly ready to strike back at any moment.

Yet the situation looked dire then, and Zhao Mu was unwilling to take the risk. He chose to act and save her.

After walking for an unknown length of time, the wild grass they had carried was completely used up, and the fish caught with the grass were nearly gone. If they couldn’t find new sources of food soon, starvation would be inevitable.

Zhao Mu spent a long time observing by the river. The water was still teeming with fish, but without the wild grass, he could no longer catch any. Unless he could conjure a fishing net.

He was grateful that at least there was no drought; otherwise, even fish would be out of reach.

Yet watching the fish swim freely in the river, Zhao Mu felt a quiet frustration, like guarding a treasure mountain without realizing it.

If only he had a fishing net, or even a simple scoop net.

Speaking of scoop nets, Zhao Mu recalled the clothes he had stripped from the two men. If he altered one piece and poked many holes in it, it might serve as a makeshift scoop net.

After all, that was how he had once scooped up fish stunned by poison. Back then, he hadn’t even needed to poke holes.

But using just a scoop net to catch fish was difficult. It required skill, patience, and a good deal of luck—he might spend a whole day and not catch a single fish.

Zhao Mu did know of a type of net that could catch every fish in the river if two were set properly, but he had no intention of such destructive fishing.

Besides, he had no materials to weave a net.

Staring at the two sets of clothes, he felt increasingly helpless.

He wanted to make a small cast net from the clothes but lacked any tools.

Since arriving in this world, he had been unarmed. Even the clay pot for boiling fish soup was a scrap he had picked up on the way.

Tearing the clothes into strips by hand was hardly feasible.

He muttered quietly, "If only I had a pair of scissors."

At that moment, the woman suddenly looked up at him, a flicker of caution in her eyes.

Zhao Mu didn’t notice her change in expression. He casually picked up one garment. Though it had been taken from dead men, he showed no disgust.

Testing it with his teeth, he bit off a small piece, then tried tearing along the bite mark with his hands, but the result was unsatisfactory.

The woman watched him intently, her gaze shifting constantly.

“What are you trying to do?” she finally asked after a long pause.

Zhao Mu was momentarily taken aback; that was the first sentence she had spoken to him besides the initial thank you.

He straightforwardly answered, “I want to turn these clothes into strips, twist them into ropes, and then make a fishing net.”

In ancient times, fishing nets were made of coarse cloth and hemp. The two men who had tried to harm her were no nobles; their clothes were ordinary rough hemp fabric.

Using that as material would produce a net prone to rot and less durable, but it could still serve its purpose.

After explaining, Zhao Mu resumed examining the garment.

Since tearing by hand was unsatisfactory, he fetched the sharpest stone he had used as a makeshift knife.

Scratching the fabric with its edge was even less effective than biting.

He shook his head helplessly and decided to continue using his teeth.

Though imperfect, it was enough to make long strips.

Watching Zhao Mu’s clumsy efforts, the woman seemed to make a firm decision.

“Here,” she said, reaching into her bosom and handing something to him.

Zhao Mu looked up in surprise. She had been hiding a pair of scissors all along!

No wonder, during the struggle with those men, her hand had been constantly reaching into her clothing—ready to draw the scissors in self-defense.

“Thank you,” he said carefully, taking the scissors from her.

He understood that by entrusting him with the life-saving scissors, she was beginning to trust him.

Without hesitation, Zhao Mu began cutting the two garments into many long strips.

To ease her worries, once finished, he promptly returned the scissors.

He noticed the woman’s expression visibly soften after getting it back.

Though she had started trusting him, she was still cautious.

But by giving him the scissors rather than cutting the strips herself, it showed she trusted him more.

Having prepared the strips, Zhao Mu twisted them into ropes.

Then, recalling the technique, he began weaving the net.

At first, he was awkward and made several mistakes, wasting much of the rope.

But as he grew more practiced, his speed improved markedly.

By sunset, Zhao Mu had completed a fishing net roughly two or three square meters in size.

He gathered many long, narrow stones to serve as weights along the net’s bottom edge.

Filled with excitement, he took the net to the riverbank to test it.

The water was somewhat murky, but fish were still visible.

Wetting the net and folding it in his hand, he took advantage of the fish’s feeding to cast it out.

The net sank slowly to the bottom, pulled by the weighted stones.

Zhao Mu carefully tugged the rope to close the net beneath the water.

When he judged the time right, he began pulling the net back, occasionally shaking it.

The woman stood behind him, her eyes shining with hope.

Now that their wild grass was gone, whether they could catch fish depended entirely on Zhao Mu’s catch.